Facebook's goal is to thwart scammers

Facebook is taking a stand against questionable financial products. On Tuesday, Facebook Product Management Director Rob Leathern said the social network has created a new policy that prohibits ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with deceptive or misleading promotional practices.

Leathern said they want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without the fear of being scammed. With regard to the aforementioned financial products, there are “many companies” advertising such products that are not currently operating in good faith, Leathern noted.

Facebook’s new policy is “intentionally broad” which should buy the company time to better detect deceptive and misleading advertising products. Leathern said Facebook will revisit the policy and its enforcement as their signals improve.

Also of note is the fact that the ban isn’t limited to the core Facebook product. Other platforms owned by the company including Instagram and Audience Network are also banning these types of ads.

Facebook concedes that some ads may inadvertently slip through the cracks. In the event you spot a questionable financial product advertisement, you can report it by clicking on the top right-hand corner of the ad.

The news comes less than a month after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he was interested in studying the positive and negative aspects of technologies like cryptocurrency and encryption.